Nancy Greenleese's Bio

Nancy recently returned to the United States after fulfilling a dream of reporting abroad. She spent the last year and half freelancing in Italy where the people proudly refer to their homeland as the "bel paese," or beautiful country. She says it's not exaggeration or spinning. It is truly splendid.

While in Italy, Nancy covered stories ranging from the euro changeover and the Vatican to the secrets behind Sardinia's huge number of centenarians and the proper way to pluck olives. She also wrote a magazine column about her Roman adventures. More importantly, she says she learned how to make a mean spaghetti carbonara, sampled every gelato stand in Rome and mastered a few of the Romans' choice curse words.

Before embarking on her "Roman Holiday," Nancy worked as a reporter and anchor at KPBS in San Diego for five years. She covered general assignment stories and did features focusing on sports, culture and lifestyle trends. She filled in as host on NPR's Only A Game and contributed frequently to the program.

At KPBS, Nancy says her niche was chronicling wacky, slice-of-life stories, such as a church for surfers and a man who collects barf bags. She received recognition for her work, including a "Golden Microphone" from the Radio and TV News Association of Southern California and two "Gracie" awards from the American Women in Radio and Television. Her greatest honor was when the San Diego Reader, an alternative weekly, named her the "Best NPR rising star."

Sunny San Diego, where satellite dishes never need shoveling and every press conference is outside, lured her away from chilly New Hampshire. For a year, she produced an award-winning arts and culture show for New Hampshire Public Radio. She also covered Bob Dole's campaign during the 1996 presidential primary.

Nancy's radio career began in Philadelphia in the early 1990s. For a span of about two years, she helped edit and produce NPR's "Fresh Air." WXPN, an alternative rock public radio station, gave Nancy her start. She began as a secretary, working her way up to becoming part of the original staff that launched PRI's World Café.

Nancy graduated in 1989 from the University of Pennsylvania with a bachelor's degree in history. In 1995, Nancy received her master's degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

Nancy lives in Denver, Colorado with her boyfriend, who is a sportswriter for The Denver Post. To aid radio reporters everywhere, Nancy says she's teaching him not to say "uh-huh" during interviews and to quietly turn the pages in his reporters' notebooks.

Resource
  Nancy Greenleese's A Working Broad -- Detailed Tips for Working Overseas

Audio
  Keeping "Italy" in Italian Food [segment] (04.49). Stream: ItalianFood.ram
  Under the Tuscan Sun [segment] (04.40). Stream: TuscanSun.ram